Watchmen

Watchmen; fantasy/ thriller/ drama, USA, 2009; D: Zack Snyder, S: Patrick Wilson, Malin Åkerman, Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Carla Gugino

The Watchmen - among them "The Comedian", Sally Jupiter and the blue Dr. Manhattan who actually has true superpowers after an accident in a power plant - are a group of superheroes who helped the US win the Vietnam War, causing such changes in the 80s like Richard Nixon being re-elected for president five times and Soviet Union constantly trying to match its force with the US. Still, the government makes masked heroism illegal so they have to adapt to living a normal life. After one of them, "The Comedian", gets assassinated, ex-Watchmen Daniel, Rorschach, Laurie and Dr. Manhattan discover that their colleague Adrien initiates a huge explosion that wipes out New York in order to put the blame on Dr. Manhattan so that the US and the Soviet Union would stop their rivalry and unite against a common "new enemy". Dr. Manhattan accepts such a fate when he finds out it brought peace to the World.

Definitely not for Spiderman fans: despite some heavy handed moments, "Watchmen" is a grand adaptation of Alan Moore's comic-book with the same title - that was even included in TIME's list of 100 greatest novels - which surprises through its unbelievable twist of superhero cliches, including an untypically mature dramatic presentation. Moore practically gave a lesson to Marvel Comics - if you ever wondered how Batman or Spiderman would have reacted to Vietnam War, you can find the answer in this alternative history flick: in one sequence, Watchmen superhero Dr. Manhattan uses his superpowers to kill the Viet Cong, thus assuring US a victory in the aforementioned war! This isn't the only realistic perspective of superhero life, and the movie queues abundantly ideas which can only be rarely found in such a genre (superhero sex; retired superheroes; family secrets...). The already legendary opening sequence is the best of its kind of the decade, brilliantly clever both summing up the alternative history of the US - instead of creating Marilyn Diptych, Andy Warhol presents a Diptyhc of one of the Watchmen, Night Owl; Neil Armstrong's landing on the Moon is filmed by Dr. Manhattan; Bernie Boston's Flower power photograph shows hippies putting a flower into the army's gun, but they fire nonetheless... - and featuring a perfect song, Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changing", that captures the zeitgeist of change, resulting in synergy last time seen in Anderson's "Rushmore" that showed a whole list of Max's extracurricular activities in one minute.

The first half of the movie is excellent precisely because of such refreshing dose of subversive originality, but the second one is by far not that harmonious, evidently falling itself into superhero cliches it avoided at the start (invincible good guy, explosions, "casual" violence...). The explicit violence in the infamous jail sequence is almost cheap, the storyline is visibly too condensed to fit the running time of the film, some scenes are simply pulled off in a bad way (the pointless dream of a nuclear explosion; the odd choice of song "Hallelujah"...) or rushed whereas a couple of ideas were pretentious. However, it is still better to have a Mercedes covered by occasional dirt than a perfectly clean Trabant. If you think the Joker from "The Dark Knight" was a complex character, observe Rorschach, "The Comedian" or Daniel - their dialogues wonder far away into the spheres of philosophy ("Since the beginning of its existence, humanity has worked on its own destruction"). Only towards the end does the movie return back to its right tracks and allows for a bigger picture, a giant essay about manipulation, integrity, principle, idealism vs. reality, left vs. rigth wing, free will and sacrifice.

Grade:+++

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey; fantasy comedy, USA, 1991; D: Peter Hewitt, S: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler

In the perfect future, there are some people who rebel against constant peace and rock music, so they want to destroy its origins: a song written centuries ago by teenagers Bill and Ted in the 20th century. The rebels send two androids in the past that look exactly like Bill and Ted, who kill the above mentioned rockers, take their place and covertly start composing bad songs. In the meantime, the souls of real Bill and Ted enter Hell, then Heaven, and then go back to Earth after they swayed Death, joining forces with some alien monster than can split into half in order to create two new androids that will eliminate their impostors.

Since the very fun comedy "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", assembled like a fantasy forerunner to "Wayne's World", became a box office hit, it spanned a TV animated show and, unfortunately, this sequel that seems to have left almost all virtues and simplicity of the original in the 1st film, which is why it was declared as a worse successor by the critics. It turned into a too complicated mess of a film and as a whole minimally fun, where humor and that fine 'hangout' mood were replaced with disgust just to keep viewers from feeling bored. Only Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter still have that charm as the title youngsters and their effort is the only reason to see the story which is as far from the 1st film as one could have thought. Underdeveloped and chaotic, blowzy and careless, entirerly insane and empty, where only a couple of jokes save the thing, this is an uninspired-avarage flick that displays an interesting trend of the series: when the title has the word "excellent" in it, it is excellent, when the title has the word "bogus" in it, it is bogus.

Grade:+

The Ugly Truth

The Ugly Truth; romantic comedy, USA, 2009; D: Robert Luketic, S: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Eric Winter

Sacramento, California. TV producer Abby is appalled when her channel hires Mike to star in "The Ugly Truth", a show where he gives very unpleasant observations about male-female relationships. She finds his attitude sexist, but decides to have a bet with him: if his advice helps her land in bed with the attractive neighbor Colin, she will stop opposing the show, but if he fails, he will quit the station. Mike's advice helps Abby to "sexualize" a lot, but in the end she choses him over Colin.

If it weren't for the disasterous "vibrating undies" sequence, romantic comedy "The Ugly Truth" would have probably faired better with critics than it did because it is one of those romantic comedies that avoid idealism and have a rather "down to Earth" attitude: there is no romance without good looks. Such a subversive jab at human species could have been elaborated in a lot more satirical way than it ended up here, yet thanks to the charm of its two main actors, Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler, the movie still has some credit even in the second half which lost its inspiration from the start. Too bad the screenplay (written by women, actually) did not stick with its initiall premise - the clash between idealistic-elevated (Abby) and erotic-seductive (Mike) views at romance - since it is obvious both of them inevitably stumble into each other's territory, instead of wondering off into the predictable happy ending, yet it has its fair share of fine jokes, such as when, just after they met and may go out on a date, Colin escorts Abby outside his home and shuts the door, but then figures he still has to return her cat, so he opens the door again just to "interrupt" her in the middle of a "triumphant" happy dance.

Grade:++

The Bodyguard

The Bodyguard; romantic thriller, USA, 1992; D: Mick Jackson, S: Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston, Gary Kemp, Bill Cobbs

Famous singer Rachel Marron is this year even nominated for an Oscar as best actress in her film. But, due to anonymous death threats, she gets a tough bodyguard, Farmer. At first, she finds him unnecessary, but with time they fall in love. Eventually, when she wins the award, he stops the assassin from taking her life.

The screenplay for "The Bodyguard" was for a long time held in a bunker, and when it was finally green lit and adapted for the big screens, it did not receive praise from the critics. Truly, that blend of thriller and romance is kitschy, sometimes unconvincing, executed with a lack of quality and awe. However, it is still far from a routine film since it has a lot of touching, good and interesting moments equipped with humor in order to avoid turning too serious, which secured it popularity among the movie goers. The story is able to engage the viewers, the main plot revolving around the bodyguard caring so much for the person he protects that he even falls in love with her is irresistible, whereas despite some 'rough' edges the ending skillfully ties up all the loose ends, awakens emotions and respect, whereas Whitney Houston is surprisingly good and natural in the leading role - one of only five movie roles in her entire career - especially when she is in her element, singing that enchanting song "I Will Always Love You" which is simply perfect.

Grade:++

Rain Man

Rain Man; drama, USA, 1988; D: Barry Levinson, S: Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, Valeria Golino

Los Angeles. Car salesman Charlie Babbitt travels to Cincinnati, Ohio when he hears the news that his father died, with whom he lost every contact. Charlie finds out his father left 3 million $ to a man in a mental asylum - it turns out that man is Raymond, his autistic, older brother. Charlie is angry because nobody ever told him he had a brother, so he takes him on his way back home in order to get a part of the inheritance. Due to Raymond's photographic memory, Charlie manages to earn enough money in Las Vegas at cards for his business. Finding out Raymond is actually Rain Man, his "imaginary" friend from childhood, Charlie bonds with him. The asylum takes Raymond back, but Charlie promises to visit him.

If you ever wondered how a mediocre "Being There" or "Forrest Gump" would have looked like, "Rain Man" is the answer: sandwiched between those two giants about handicapped individuals that also used them as a subtle tool to place satirical observations about the society, this sentimental melodrama uses too many obvious cliches in presenting such human state and is today one of those best picture Oscar winners nobody really likes to watch. It is also bizarre that one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, Dustin Hoffman, won his second Oscar for such an obvious, easy and blatant Oscar bait role (basically, his Raymond is written in such a way that he only has two sides: either he is annoying or has a mathematical memory. There is nothing else to him), while so many of his far more complex performances were ignored - as an interesting footnote, from 1988 to '98, six out of ten Academy Award winners for best actor in a leading role were for handicapped roles, which says a lot about their imposing preferences. "The Mask" is far more somber considering that theme because it never shows any benefit of handicapped people, such as the Las Vegas sequence here. However, Barry Levinson is still a fine director which is why "Rain Man" is a good road movie, almost reduced to the core - the relationship just between the two protagonists. The best moment shows up when Charlie finds out Raymond was actually his "imaginary friend" Rain Man who comforted him during childhood, which gives a few clever and harmonious observations about "fallen heroes" and the clash between idealism and reality. Charlie's sudden fondness of Raymond does not seem natural, yet that does blend in with the overall duality of the story.

Grade:++

When the Party's Over

When the Party's Over; drama, USA, 1992; D: Matthew Irmas, S: Rae Dawn Chong, Sandra Bullock, Elizabeth Berridge, Kris Kamm, Brian McNamara, Fisher Stevens

African-American M.J. shares her L.A. apartment with friends Frankie and Amanada. They don't take life too seriously, unlike her who wants to achieve a good career, but has a car accident on her 25th birthday. Amanda, who sells paintings, meets a waiter at a party who falls in love with her and quits his job, eventually taking her to twisted plays. Lawyer Taylor leaves M.J. and starts a relationship with Frankie. M.J. tries to find a new partner - hopelessly. Disappointed, she tries to flirt with Taylor, but just at midnight they are caught by Frankie. She and Amanda leave the apartment, while M.J. stays alone.

Independent drama "When the Party's Over", that talks about the problems of young people, is not a particularly original nor magical, yet decently crafted product. The exposition is excellent when M.J. and Amanda (Sandra Bullock in her early role) are talking in complete dark, illuminated only on their outlines, yet the remaining part of the story annoys slightly with its conventional story flow, lacking some stand-out style in the visual, dramaturgical, metaphysical or any other sense. Bullock is indeed the best among the ensemble cast and convinces with her natural charm. Another interesting moment, that "wakes up" the grey mood, is the one where a change happens to the characters exactly at midnight during New Year's Day, when a protagonist finds out that her partner is cheating on her, almost coincidentally to a similar scene in "Boogie's Nights". Being shrill is overrated, yet this is one example that really shows how a lack of shrillness can be even worse, even though it is a good film overall.

Grade:++

The Apostle

The Apostle; drama, USA, 1997; D: Robert Duvall, S: Robert Duvall, Miranda Richardson, Farah Fawcett, Billy Bob Thornton

Sonny is a lively Pentecostal preacher who does everything to attract the crowd into the church: he is singing, dancing and holding strong speeches. He is married and has two kids, and does not miss out the opportunity to bless injured people after a car crash. When he finds out that his wife cheats on him with Horace, Sonny hits him with a bat. Horace falls into a coma and dies. Sad, Sonny leaves his city and wonders across the country until he meets priest Charles and introduces himself as apostle E.F., begging him to build a church. After doing so, he attracts a lot of religious people and even converts a bully who wanted to destroy the building, but then the police finds and arrests him.

This strong and lively drama energetically covers the theme of religion and the Pentecostal culture, and the biggest kudos goes to the fact that it shows it as something that makes people happy and cheerful, avoiding to be dogmatic or rigid. Such an approach resulted in a few brilliant moments channeled through the inventive ways with which preacher Sonny attracts a wide audience in order to reach them: "Make way, stars, Mars, Jupiter, I am going to Heaven!"; while holding a speech a translator simultaneously translates his words in Spanish; he has the "ABC of sin"; fights for the church...Sonny is truly a fascinating character, precisely because he is not always right and sometimes has to correct his own mistakes first before moving on in life. Robert Duvall produced "The Apostle" himself inspired by similar preachers throughout America, and for his performance he was nominated for an Oscar as best actor: Nicholson took away the award for "As Good as it Gets" even though Duvall was better, yet "As Good as it Gets" was a better film so the Academy probably went with that. A few melodramatic solutions and roughly patched events reduce the enjoyment value, yet "The Apostle" manages to intrigue even non-religious viewers.

Grade:++

Chicken Run

Chicken Run; animated comedy, UK, 2000; Nick Park, Peter Lord, S: Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson, Timothy Spall

Ginger is one of the many chickens in a caged coop run by an egocentric old lady and her assistant. Since those two cook every chicken that does not lay eggs, Ginger already tried X-times to escape from the farm. When a circus rooster, Rocky, falls into their property after he was shot from a cannon, Ginger erroneously concludes he can fly and tries to persuade him to teach chickens the same. Rocky pretends he has a broken wing, but in the end tells the truth. Still, they build an airplane and escape anyway.

The first feature length animated movie by Nick Park, distributed even by DreamWorks, turned out paler than expected. Warm, childish characters brought to life via claymation lean obviously towards Park's previous short film from the legendary "Wallace and Gromit" series, the excellent "Wrong Trousers", except that this time his sharpness was left out. "Chicken Run" is an ordinary kids film. Compared to "Wrong Trousers", where every scene mattered, it seems as if it was directed by Park in his sleep. One cannot say that the box office gross and the critical acclaim (nominated for a Golden Globe as best picture - musical or comedy) were unjustified since Park's continuity and shrillness of the story are still palpable, yet there is simply a lack of highlights. The best parts of this compromised fun that spoofs prison outbreaks are occasional outbursts of charm of the chicken characters, whose higher quantity would have been welcomed.

Grade:++

Man on the Moon

Man on the Moon; drama, USA, 1999; D: Miloš Forman, S: Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, Courtney Love, Paul Giamatti, Vincent Schiavelli

Any Kaufman was born in a small provincial town and already as a child pretended to run a TV-show. As a grown up, he worked as entertainer in clubs, until his imitation of Elvis Presely caught the attention of George Shapiro who hired him to star on "Saturday Night Live" and sitcom "Taxi". Andy hated the show, but it assured him fame. His eccentric behaviour became more and more hermetic, like when he would disguise himself as the overweight Clifton or simply read "The Great Gatsby" from start to finish on the show. During wrestling, he met Lynn and started a relationship with her. After getting thrown out from the show, he died from cancer. A year later, Clifton performed again, though.

The movie has a genius opening (similar like the one from "And Now for Something Completely Different"): in a black and white cinematography, Andy Kaufman (Jim Carrey) looks directly into the camera and addresses the audience: "Hallo. I am Andy Kaufman. Thank you for coming to watch my film. But this is the end of the film", upon which music starts and the closing credits truly start rolling (!) - until it turns out it is all just a joke true to the oddball humor of the eccentric comedian. A wonderfully unusual start compared to Milos Forman's previous and rather standard achievement, "The People vs. Larry Flynt", whereas Carrey even won a Golden Globe as best actor in a musical or comedy, his second one in a row after "The Truman Show" (ironically, also starring Paul Giamatti), yet that is the only truly inspired highlight of "Man on the Moon" whose level keeps constantly dropping whereas the director unfortunately allows that he main protagonist turns sligthly annoying. All in all a good movie, though hardly something new in the biopic genre. It reminds a little bit of "Lenny": Kaufman is an artist, but he is not always interesting due to his empty provocations, whereas Lenny Bruce was truly a genius comedian of controversies that slyly also told a lot about the society.

Grade:++

Sling Blade

Sling Blade; drama, USA, 1996; D: Billy Bob Thornton, S: Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Dwight Yoakam, J.T. Walsh, John Ritter, Natalie Canerday, Robert Duvall, Jim Jarmusch

Karl Childres, a mentally disabled man, killed his mother and her lover when he was 12 and thus spent 25 years in a mental asylum. When he gets released, he finds a job in a repair shop and makes friends with the little boy Frank who invites him to live in his house. Frank and his mother Linda suffer and are terrorized by Frank's stepfather Doyle who is constantly drunk. Linda's friend is the gay owner of a bar, Vaughan. After observing the situation, Karl says goodbye to Frank and kills Doyle, after which he calmly calls the police. He thus ends back in the asylum.

Despite critical acclaim, average 'disability' drama "Sling Blade" revolves somewhere between good and boring moments, it is empty and often seems to be making deliberate mistakes. Billy Bob Thornton, in the role of the mentally disabled protagonist Karl, speaks with such an accent as if Otto Waalkes is making a parody on those Edgar Wallace movies, the point being that this is suppose to be a serious drama. Practically all characters are stripped from anything that could make them special or unique, especially the one-dimensional bad guy Doyle: someone disagrees with him, he starts swearing; someone criticizes him, he beats that guy up...There are indeed such characters like Doyle in real life, whose only purpose on this planet it seems is to make life a living hell to other people, but here the director's intentions are so obvious and so transparent that Doyle turns up as a ridiculous caricature, a blatant and cheap villain without any subtle directorial disguise of the issue, which makes this too close to a soap opera, the main tangle is based on a incredible plot hole (whose mother would allow an ex-convict to live with her child?), whereas the story just "vegetates" which makes this hopelessly lost and overlong. The screenplay won an Oscar, which is another embarassing choice in the Academy's history. The only reedeming point is the thought-provoking, original and complicated ending, something that Karl does in order to spare Frank's childhood from turning the way his did, as well as his somber reaction when he calls the police himself, but even that was already seen in the TV-thriller "The Only Way Out", coincidentally also starring John Ritter.

Grade:+